children

“Were you holding it when you went to chase Mendy*?” (*henceforth the pseudonym for the 2 1/2 year old boy)

Mendy heard me. “Me?”

“You.”

“Yay!!!!”

This reminds me of something I once learned about the famous prophet Yeshayah (Issiah.) One of the things that gave him the merit to have so much positivity in a time of historic darkness was that he accepted what G-d wanted from him with joy and happiness.

Mendy, so young and sweet, was just genuinely happy to be… Mendy. In spite of the hardships he faces. Maybe this is something we could all learn from.

A story, basically word for word as submitted by a younger reader. (Some minor grammatical fixes.)

Once I had an argument with a couple of friends about where we should play for recess. I lost the argument, but someone from their group said he’ll play a little later. He came to me and said “I see your point but I also see theirs”. He persuaded me to talk to them and we got along. He has a heart of chesed.

This is less about kind moral choices- no, actually its not. On some level, even extremely young children understand being nice. They might not have access to the normal gifts we think of, but…

Two little cuties I saw today. One’s two, and was in the process of melting down after not being allowed to touch the burning Chanukah candles. The other was five, holding a Chanukah gift in her hand, grasping it possessively. The two year old, calming down for a moment, noticed the shiny package and tugged hard.

Instead of screaming, pulling back or hitting, which are all normal (if not acceptable) toddler reactions, she did something very surprising. She let go. And by the smile on her face and the way she ruffled her brother’s hair, it wasn’t an accident either.

It’s strange that we’re the ones who’ve been through 12+ years of school, yet we often learn our best lessons from the ones who have only just begun to learn. I wonder why?